Since the events of Sept. 11, America's public schools have helped teach the nation some powerful lessons in charity, tolerance and patriotism.
Students have raised money for the victims' families. They've embraced their Arab and Muslim classmates, and they're reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with renewed spirit.
Many students also say they have a different outlook about the world and their place in it.

The daily routine at Thomas Jefferson High School in Bloomington has slowly returned to normal since Sept. 11. The band rehearses in the auditorium, hall monitors check students for passes and classes are in session. But nearly four months later, students' memories of that Tuesday morning have not faded. They vividly describe how otherwise normal school day changed near the end of their first-hour classes.

Students and teachers stood near televisions, radios and computer monitors that day as the tragic events unfolded in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania.

Treb Allen, a senior, says his view of the world changed once he learned the attacks were the deliberate work of terrorists. "You kind of take your security for granted in America, and realizing that something that destructive could occur on American soil, you just kind of look at everything in a new light. I've never really thought of it before Sept. 11 - that something that destructive could happen to us. I just took everything for granted, and you just really re-evaluate everything that's important to you," Allen says.

Students, like Senior Sarah Denney also found themselves overwhelmed by the loss of life. "I just felt really sad, like it was crazy to think a group of people could cause that much destruction and much pain and suffering for so many people. It was just incredible and I felt really bad. Your heart just goes out to those people who've suffered," she says.

Students at Jefferson High School soon learned they had a personal connection to one of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Bloomington native and 1981 Jefferson graduate Thomas Burnett was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, killing all on board.

Burnett and other passengers apparently fought back against their hijackers and likely prevented the plane from hitting an unknown target.

Sophomore Chelsea Morical says that connection had a big impact. "You really had to deal with knowing that someone who had been at your own school, even if it was years back, had been involved and had been there and seen that. It made everything so much more real," according to Morical.

Morical says the events had a profound, positive impact on her school. She says all kinds of students came together to comfort one another in the days and weeks after the attacks.

Hayley Tsukayama, another sophomore, says much of that closeness remains in the school three and a half months later. "It's faded a little bit as far as the intensity, but I don't think these feelings are every going to go away. I think the sense of security has been so shattered," she says.

Bloomington Jefferson students are reminded daily of the events of Sept. 11. Photographs of Thomas Burnett and newspaper clippings are prominently displayed near the front door. A fund raising drive is underway for a scholarship fund in his honor. School officials say they also want to place some kind of permanent memorial as way to remind future generations of Burnett's sacrifice.
(MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

One student had her sense of security shattered by terrorism a second time in October. Senior Kiira Gustafson's older sister was exposed to anthrax while working as an intern in the office of U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota.

"She was working on the day the letter was opened. Her best friend in the office opened it. It's completely random whether she works in the mail room or researches on the lower floor of his office. She went up there to see what was going on, she's on 90 days of Cipro and has to be vaccinated and it's a scary thing," Gustafson says.

Gustafson says the incident had an immediate impact on her family. Her parents concern for her safety ended her plans to apply for admission to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Other seniors also say they plan to stay closer to home in their search for a college.

Andy Fekete says he thinks it's too soon to know if students' career plans have also been changed. "I think a lot of people have probably considered military service, maybe at times myself included. But as for an effect on my career, since I have no idea what to do yet, it's probably not had the direct impact there yet. Maybe once you choose a career path, it will somehow influence it," Fekete says.

Fekete and other seniors say some of the colleges and universities they've applied to are asking them to write essays about the impact of Sept. 11 on their lives. He says he's definitely feeling a greater sense of patriotism and is much more interested in world events.

"It's a lot cooler to have this respect for your country than before when I guess you could say kids really don't pay attention to stuff. But now you can watch the news more and be a little more informed and just have a concern for what's going on around you," he says.

Other students, like junior Anne Schwichtenberg, say they now have a stronger religious faith. She says she's only recently been able to get past the shock and really share her feelings.

"Maybe somebody will realize that we as a student body are hurting too. And everybody just expects us to go on, but we're changed. And whether we're changed for the better or the more patriotic or the more cynical, we're changed," she says.

Bloomington Jefferson students are reminded daily of the events of Sept. 11. Photographs of Thomas Burnett and newspaper clippings are prominently displayed near the front door. A fund raising drive is underway for a scholarship fund in his honor. School officials say they also want to place some kind of permanent memorial as way to remind future generations of Burnett's sacrifice.